Oklahoma City (16-10) 1st place
Hitter of the month: Marc Krauss. .333/.417/.679. Krauss leads the Redhawks in homers (6), slugging and OPS (1.096). His OPS and slugging are both 7th best in the PCL. He is 2nd on the Redhawks in total bases with 53, 2 behind Jimmy Paredes who has played in 2 more games than Krauss. Krauss is 3rd in runs on the ball club with 15. Last year Krauss had a K rate of 26.8%, this year he has K'd 14 times in 78 at bats for a much improved K rate of 17.9%.
Honorable mention: Jimmy Paredes. .358/.421/.579. Leads the club in doubles with 8 and total bases with 55. OPS of 1.000.
Top Prospect update: Jonathan Villar had an interesting month of April. His bat started out in the deep freeze. On the 12th of April Villar was hitting .036. HE bounced back the 2nd half of April and finished with a .289/.337/.443 line, and an OPS of .770. Villar has swiped 7 bags, including a steal of home, and been caught stealing 3 times.
Pitcher of the month: Jarred Cosart. Cosart leads the Redhawks in innings pitched with 27.1. Cosart also leads the ball club in wins (3-0) and has the lowest ERA of any pitcher with at least 15 innings pitched. Cosart has allowed 19 hits in those 27.1 innings, and only gave up 1 home run. Cosart has struck out 29 batters, the club lead, and walked 11, also the highest total on the club. In the month of April Cosart has a WHIP of 1.10.
Honorable Mention: Wes Musick. 2.87 ERA in 15.2IP. WHIP of 0.87 with 15K's and 5 BB's.
AA
Corpus Christi (14-11) 1st place
Hitter of the month: George Springer .287/.407/.648. Springer is the only Hooks player with an OPS over 1 with an OPS of 1.056. He leads all Texas League hitters in homers with 8 and is also tops in OPS and total bases. Springer is tied with 2 other batter for the Texas League lead in RBI, and is 2nd over in slugging.
Honorable Mention: Austin Wates .317/.438/.467 and an OPS of .905. Of Wates 19 hits, 5 of them went for extra bases.Top prospect update: Domingo Santana .241/.343/.415 .826 OPS. 3 homers for Santana who missed some time on the DL.
Pitcher of the month: Jake Buchanan (2-0). 1.47 ERA (3rd in the Texas League) in 30.2 innings pitched, Buchanan is the innings leader on the Hooks staff. In those 30.2 innings he has allowed 20 hits, walked 2!, and given up 2 home runs. In the 2 games he didn't start he earned holds. Buchanan leads all Hooks pitchers with 20+ innings pitched with a WHIP of 0.72 (1st in the Texas League).
Honorable Mention: Corpus has a great
A
Lancaster (15-10) 1st place
Hitter of the month: Nolan Fontana .365/.513/.565 with a team leading OPS of 1.078 that is 2nd in the Cal League. His OBP is currently 2nd in the Cal League. Fontana leads the Cal League in walks with 27 and is 2nd and hits with 32. Fontana is 6th in total bases, one spot behind Preston Tucker, amongst Cal League hitters.
Honorable Mention: Preston Tucker .281/.352./.490. Of his 27 hits 10 went for extra bases (5 HR, 5 2B). He is tied for the club lead with 22 RBI.
Matt Duffy .324/.429/.592 OPS 1.020 and Zach Johnson .298/.362/.536 OPS .897 both deserve a mention.
Top prospect update: Delino DeShields .250/.341/.375 OPS .716. Deshields has 5 stolen bases and 6 caught stealing this April. He does lead the team in triples with 3. DDJ has walked 9 times and struck out 20 times in 72 at bats. Delino also has 2 errors on the year.
Pitcher of the month: Luis Cruz (1-1, SV) has a 3.47 ERA in 23.1 innings. Cruz struck out a club leading 30 batters (top ten in the Cal League)in that span to go along with 11 walks and 18 hits allowed, the lowest hit total of all Jethawk pitchers with 20 innings pitched. Cruz has a WHIP of 1.24, 2nd best on the club of pitchers with 20+ innings pitched, and top 15 in the Cal League.
Honorable Mention: Travis Ballew 3.52 ERA. 3 saves in 7.2 innings pitched to go along with 17 strike outs, 3 walks, and 5 hits. He sports a 1.04 WHIP.
Prospect Update: Mike Foltynewicz sports a 4.09 ERA in 4 starts and 6 appearances, totaling 22 innings pitched. Folty had a strong spring showing coming off an explosive appearance at the juice box against the cubs. However the Cal League hasn't been kind to MIke. He's allowed 25 hits in 22 innings. However, he hasn't had the best defense behind him. Of the 15 runs he has allowed only 10 were earned. Folty has given up a club leading 4 homers and 12 walks. Folty has K'd 24 batters and sports a WHIP of 1.68.
Low A
Quad Cities (15-9) 2nd place 3.0 GB
Hitter of the month: Teoscar Hernandez .295/.333/.432 OPS .765. TeoscarFACE Hernandez leads the club in total bases with 41. Of his club leading 28 hits, 10 went for extra bases (7 2B 3 3B). Hernandez has the most runs scored on the club, 18, and fits the lead off hitter role well. Hernandez also has 8 stolen bases.
Honorable Mention: Carlos Correa .221/.384/.397 OPS .781. Correa leads the club with 15 walks and 3 homers. Correa trails Hernandez for 2nd on the club in runs with 15.
Pitcher of the month: Vincent Velasquez (3-0) 2.45 ERA in 25.2IP. Other than his most recent appearance, Velasquez has been dominant. Velasquez started 3 games in April and won all 3. In his other 3 appearance he earned 2 saves. In 25.2 innings Velasquez allowed 14 hits, 7ER, 2HR, and walked 7. Velasquez is tied for 1st in the Midwest League in strikeouts with 31. His 0.82 WHIP is 5th in the Midwest League. If and when Quad Cities goes to a traditional rotation, you can pencil Velasquez as the #1 starter.
Top prospect update: Lance McCullers (0-3) 2.08 ERA in 21.2IP. McCullers allowed 22 hits, 5ER, walked 8 and struck out 20. He posted a 1.38 WHIP and seems to be adjusting to the challenge of full season ball.
